Wake the Dead 2 (Wake The Dead Series)

by Vanucci, Gary F.

  “It’s contained within the walls,” Liz said from behind them, referring to the fire. She proceeded straight over to her husband, hugged him tight and then rubbed the stubble on his shaved head.

  “So the good news is that the zombies are dying in the fire,” stated Bryan, who stood beside Alexis, the pair soaked from head to toe, appearing right behind Liz. The bad news is that we won’t be doing any farming there until next spring.”

  “When did you get back?” Alex asked them, making it to an upright position.

  “While you were out. Nick and Kelly helped us back up the wall, just a bit ago.”

  “It’s a lot harder to get up then it is to get down,” Alexis commented, cocking her head at them all and displaying a few scrapes along her forearms from the climb.

  “Well, yeah!” Bryan added with a smile, “Gravity is an unforgiving mate, eh? But it was kind of fun though, right?”

  “Fun? Maybe…,” Alexis said with a sheepish smile and a long pause. It was clear to Alex that she enjoyed her jaunt with Bryan, and he didn’t know if it was because she was being brave, or if she was just stupid, He’d have to weigh in on that one once he collected more evidence.

  Yeah, they made it back without a scratch. almost,” Nick said as Alexis cleared her throat and held up her forearms again. “Though we almost dropped Bryan as we were pulling him up. That would have been something, eh?” Nick teased his fuzzy haired friend, who removed a cigarette from a pack located in his breast pocket and lit it, taking a long drag.

  “Yeah, I’d have gotten a welt on my back for sure. Gonna need a cigarette run soon, too,” the man commented matter-of-factly, tossing away a match.

  “Not our highest priority, but since you did risk your life there, we’ll shuffle things around, for you” Nick added, his arm still around Liz.

  “How’s Shadow?” asked Bryan, staring from Selina to Alex.

  “He’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. Thanks for asking,” Selina said, clearly wanting to take the lead on answering that question, which Alex appreciated, “He’s a tough one. Do you like animals?”

  “Well, I do now. I’m taking care of Ben’s cat, Buster. He doesn’t seem to ever want to come out of ben’s room though. It’s kind of weird.”

  “I’d say he almost doesn’t like to move, let alone leave Ben’s room!” Liz interjected with a deadpan look to Bryan.

  “It’s like he knows that Ben’s not coming back,” Bryan added in almost a whisper, blowing out a ring of smoke.

  “He just might,” Alex said, getting to his feet finally. His feet felt good under him as he steadied himself. “So what’s the plan, boss man?”

  “The plan is, we wait until the fire dies down and then do some exploring to see what’s still alive out there. Then we make our runs when it’s safe to go.”

  “It’s never gonna be ‘safe’, man,” Alex interjected cynically. He immediately regretted his pessimistic statement and shook his head.

  “Safe-er, then.”

  Alex looked up into the sky and realized that hours had passed, it was well past what he believed was noon by now as the sun crested and was leaning westward. Nick must have read his concern.

  “If it gets too dark before we can get out of here, then we wait ‘til tomorrow, got it?” he said loudly, meaning to address the entire group with his tone.

  “Safety first," Liz said, reiterating his point.

  “I’m gonna scrounge up a bowl of Kelly’s famous ‘bean surprise.’ Anyone with me?” Nick asked. Everyone else nodded and mumbled their agreements, Phil and Kelly coming down the steps from atop the parapets to join them. The group slowly followed him into the castle, chatting among themselves.

  Only Alex, Selina, and Hannah stayed behind, the woman still standing vigilant over Shadow, which Alex appreciated a great deal. She hadn’t even joined in their conversation and when Alex got closer, he saw that she was almost sleeping sitting up.

  “You don’t have to stay, Hannah,” Alex said, though she waved his concern away with a gesture and a furrowed brow, as if the idea of leaving Shadow was absurd. He realized that after losing Tom, that perhaps Hannah’s need for a ‘win’ was high. He understood that completely if that were indeed the case.

  “I’ve got something for you,” Hannah said, preparing a shot for his shoulder. “This will numb it up and at least make the pain go away.” She gave him the shot and tested his range of motion and appeared satisfied with what she found. “It’ll be fine.”

  “Let me get you some food then?” Selina asked her kindly.

  ”I’m not the slightest bit hungry,” Hannah replied, not unkindly, as she inspected the wounds and dressings on Shadow. “This is incredible,” she said excitedly. “The smaller wound that you treated is starting to scab over, and the stitched area is not red or inflamed at all!”

  “How is that?” Alex asked concernedly.

  “I have no clue,” she whispered. “But I do know that this animal’s metabolism and healing capabilities are extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Well, he is kinda special,” Alex said, unsure of what else to say. But, as he gave it some thought, he spoke again to Hannah, taking a seat right beside her on the grass. “I have noticed that he acts…more like a dog than a wolf, really.”

  “You mean he is more domesticated?”

  “Exactly. I mean, I don’t know shit about wolves, but it seems like he is smart…not just cunning. He acts on instinct, but it’s more,” he said, struggling to explain his theory. Before he could say another word, Shadow shuddered and then rolled over, licking at his wounded area, before trotting off to lay in the shade of the chapel that he and Selina called home.

  “Well, I guess I’m no longer needed then,” she added with a dry smile.

  “He seems to be good?” Selina added, shrugging her shoulders. “Hannah, why don’t we talk a little? I wanna know more about Tom,” she said, pointing to the steps leading to the wall-walk above. “Up there.”

  “Sure,” Hannah said, tearing up, then smiling and wiping away her tears as she slowly got to her feet. “I’d like that.”

  As the women marched up the steps to the walls above, Alex wandered over to the gates. The fires were still burning, a good twenty paces or so from the gates, and he couldn’t see any movement within the smoke and flames any longer. He could make out what he believed to be husks and burned out corpses occasionally through the smoke, but they were few and far between. And it wasn’t long after that they too disappeared, consumed by the pitiless flame. It would be a while before the fires died out enough for them to wander out there. He peeked through the bars and caught sight of his van off to the far right, unmolested by the flames as of yet. He was glad he grabbed his important belongings a few days ago, knowing that whatever supplies were left behind might all be gone in the next few hours if the van caught fire.

  He strode over to where Shadow was, lay down beside him on the grass, rubbed the nape of his neck, and closed his eyes.

  ***

  Alex felt something wet on his cheek as he stirred from his slumber. He opened his eyes and saw that the sun was all but gone, fading fast behind clouds in the west. And then he felt another splash of moisture on his face. It wasn’t Shadow as the wolf was nowhere in sight. But, he looked skyward again and felt a few more drops of moisture upon his face.

  Rain.

  They hadn’t had much precipitation this year at all, he recalled, as he slowly made it to his feet. His shoulder and head still ached, but nothing like it was before he nodded off. Hannah and Selina were coming down from the wall just then, too.

  “How’s it lookin’ out there?” Alex asked the pair, trying to remain steady. Judging by the state of their eyes, they had been crying.

  “It’s dying down a bit. And I'm sure the rain will help stop it altogether,” Hannah said, pausing and then hugging Selina. “Thanks for listening,” she added, speaking directly to her. Alex shuffled away, back toward the gate and stared outs
ide, seeing much blackness and ash where not long ago there were structures and bodies. The only things that might remain in the wreckage were things forged from the fires themselves. There was no movement still from what he could see, but the clouds overhead blocked out the sun, which was already nestled behind the western clouds. He could see the slightest hint of the sun behind the gray above him. They would simply have to wait it out until morning to see what remained after the blaze died out.

  Alex watched Hannah, in scrubs of blue, as she disappeared into the mouth of the castle. He turned to stare back at Selina who plopped onto the ground, ignoring the increasing precipitation as she lay back, spreading her arms, seeming to enjoy the rain.

  “How was that?”

  “It was nice,” she said, stretching and flinching as the rain hit her face. “And sad. She told me about Tom and how he got sick. She still sleeps in his bed where he died because it still has his scent,” she said, staring up at him as he stood over her. He lowered himself onto her and kissed her deeply.

  “Isn’t that a little…morbid?”

  “I dunno. I mean it’s not covered in blood or anything,” she said with a shrug.”

  “You’re a good woman,” he mentioned in a complimentary way.

  “I'm a great woman!” she corrected, smacking him in the head. Right after that, her eyes widened in shock and she winced, knowing from Alex’s grimace of pain that it wasn’t the smartest way to tease him about his poor choice of words.

  ”Are you trying to hurt me, woman?” he said in his best sarcastically flippant tone.

  “I'm so sorry, Alex!” she said, hugging him tightly. The rain began to come down more steadily, but the two ignored it, kissing and generally basking in the downpour as they fell to the moist grass. It wasn’t before another few moments had passed when Alex noticed Shadow standing before them, his pitch-black fur soaked through and through from the deluge.

  “Sorry, buddy! Let’s get you inside,” he said, rolling off Selina and yanking her off the ground. They ran toward the entrance of the chapel and threw open the door as Shadow trotted inside. He quickly found a spot next to their clutter of crumpled blankets, before lying down. Alex found a can of tuna in his pack, opened it for him and placed it on the ground before the wolf.

  As he ate the contents, Alex turned back to Selina and pulled her down on top of him.

  “Think we’ll survive this?” Selina said, breaking Alex’s amorous mood.

  “I plan on doing just that. Yes,” he said, staring into her eyes and running a hand through her dark, wet locks. “Such fine hair.”

  “Just like my pop’s,” she said, rolling away from him and staring at the ceiling.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Maybe later. Right now, I’m gonna ride you like I’m a cowgirl.”

  She tossed away her shirt playfully; revealing her firmly shaped breasts and stomach. Her skin was warm, giving him a comforting feeling, the shade reminding him of cocoa as she dropped the rest of her clothing to the floor and sat on top of him. “That is, if my poor baby can take it, with his boo-boo head!”

  She ran a hand through Alex’s shaggy mane of hair and looked at him sympathetically. “Well, can you?”

  “Oh, I can take it!” he said, grabbing her by the back of the head and pulling her in for a quick series of deep kissed before releasing her. “Question is: can you take it?”

  She grabbed his stiffening erection and worked it full quickly, holding his stare intently as she did. Only when she was satisfied with her efforts did she speak again.

  “I guess we’ll just have to see, wont we?” She leaned back on her palms and began to work him carefully and slowly, teasingly gliding back so that he almost came out and then driving him back inside her.

  The two of them began their playful session, becoming intertwined like one mass of steamy flesh for a long, long while.

  ***

  Alex was awakened by the sound of knocking on the door. He rubbed his head and saw that Selina lay next to him, still sleeping after their intense lovemaking session last evening. He looked to the window and noted that light shone through, so it had to be the next morning already. Even Shadow, still lying in the corner, had not stirred from his slumber as of yet. Several candles remained around them where they slept, but they were no longer lit as Selina must have extinguished them last night before she went to sleep.

  She is always thinking practically, that one.

  Alex strode over to the door, wrapping a sheet around him, flung it open and squinted against the intrusion of light. In the threshold of the doorway stood Nick, Shadow suddenly barreling past the both of them to get outside.

  “Come in?” he said, backing away to allow Nick entry.

  “No thanks. Get yourself together. We got problems,” Nick said.

  Alex moved forward, the blanket that covered him flapping in the breeze, and headed outside. He stared at the gate and saw a combination of both charred and un-charred flesh reaching through the steel bars to get at them. Shadow, poised and snarling at the gate, began snapping his jaws at the fleshy limbs.

  “What the fuck?! How bad?” Alex asked, completely stunned that more zombies now waited for them outside the castle walls.

  “Worse than before,” Nick said, sighing deeply and folding his arms over his head. “I got up on the wall and there are zombies choked throughout the parking lot and inside the grounds like I’ve never seen before. We’ll never be able to get your van out of there, let alone a single car out of that lot.”

  “Shit! What happened then?”

  “Well, the fire did its job. It killed the ones that were here,” Nick said, pausing to allow Alex to connect the dots on his own.

  “But in killing them—it drew in more of ‘em. Son of a bitch.”

  Nick nodded his agreement of Alex’s summary. “Yes, indeed.”

  “How the hell did we not think that far ahead?!”

  “Dunno. I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming.”

  “So now what?”

  “We gotta formulate a plan B. Over breakfast,” he said, taking in a deep breath and then sighing deeply in what Alex perceived as a clear sign of frustration. It was something that he’d never really seen from this stoic and charismatic leader until now.

  Selina suddenly appeared in the doorway, partially dressed with a towel around her bare chest, an inquisitive look on her face. “Did I just hear that right?!”

  He nodded toward the gate and as Selina turned to regard the scene, Alex chuckled against the absurdity of it all. The wolf had torn off a scorched arm from one of the zombies and was shaking it violently. Alex wondered for a split second just how awful that limb might taste, but it seemed Shadow was going to eat it anyway.

  “I guess he’s all set. Are you guys gonna join us?” Nick asked, tapping his foot in expectation of the pair getting dressed and coming with him. They did just that, Alex quickly throwing on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt while Selina finished dressing her upper half.

  She headed out first, looking back to Alex who tied his boots. He cracked his neck and then followed the two of them who had already started to walk off without him. Alex ran after them and as he watched them cross the bridge, he slowed down as an idea sprang to mind.

  Chapter 4

  Everyone gathered at the table waited in anticipation for what was to come. He told Nick his idea in private and they waited for the others to gather before talking about it again.

  It seemed as good an idea as any.

  “So, since everyone is here now, why don’t we explain the situation,” Nick said. “The undead have gathered en masse upon the gates of our home as if Satan himself vomited every single piece of shit direct from hell into one area.”

  “Melodramatic as usual,” Liz commented, drawing a sidelong look from her husband before he continued.

  “The fire did its job, cleansing the grounds of the zombie horde, but in turn, it brought more of them to our doorstep,” Nick contin
ued, tearing at a piece of bread, chewing it and swallowing it before continuing again.

  “Out of the proverbial frying pan,” Phil said, scooping a mouthful of cereal into his mouth.

  “Something like that, yes. But Alex here has come up with an intriguing idea. I’ll let him explain.” He gestured for Alex to take the floor and so he stood and began to explain his plan. All eyes were upon him as he spoke.

  “So, remember that Ben said that they had almost finished the moat outside? I took a peek at what needs to be done and noted that there ain’t much of the earth holding the river from coming into that trench.” He remained silent for a minute after the initial explanation, allowing the others to think about that statement.

  “So we finish the moat?” Alexis asked.

  “Yes. We dig out the rest and let that water come into the trench, establishing a wide moat, and we find a boat—or make something if need be—and ride that out to the river. We can go from there to the riverbank upstream, find a clearing and dock it. From there, we walk to the road. There’s gotta be plenty of abandoned vehicles that we can use to make our runs,” Alex finished, staring from face to face.

  “Digging out that trench is going to be dangerous,” Liz said, cracking her knuckles. “Isn’t it?”

  “I’d say yes. But, if we do it carefully, we can do it.”

  “That’ll take weeks,” Kelly said with a frown.

  “It would if all we were doing was digging. But, I was thinking we dig it out a little more by hand, and then we design some rudimentary bombs out of …not sure what…and finish it that way. It would be faster, right?”

  “That’s kinda dangerous, don’t you think?” Phil asked.

  “I know how to do a firebomb. I might be able to cook up something else,” Alex said. “Well, in theory. Never actually made one, but…..”